Stories for August 11th 2012

Uruguay will continue “to look after” Mercosur in spite of the strong diplomatic discrepancies with Argentina, but will also continue with an interest in participating in other trade blocks of the region, said President Jose Mujica.

Peru will be hosting next October the III Summit of heads of state and government from South America and Arab nations which is expected to bring together 32 countries, according to Deputy Foreign Affairs minister Jose Beraún.

The Uruguayan construction industry faces tough years ahead because of the international crisis and its effects on neighbouring Argentina, forecasted economist Jorge Caumont who is also an advisor of several real estate agents.

UK Fisheries minister Richard Benyon has been swimming with sharks to highlight his desire to tighten the European ban on “finning”. Mr Benyon took the plunge into a tank of sharks at Sealife London Aquarium to launch a Shark Trust initiative calling for support to close loopholes in the EU ban on slicing off shark fins and discarding the bodies at sea.

Trade with China for Argentina has great opportunities but also great threats because the Asian giant is only interested in produce with no added value, warned the head of Argentina’s Industrial Union, Ignacio De Mendiguren.

Argentina tightened its grip on the country's energy sector on Friday by ordering a tax hike on bio-diesel exports, a move it said was needed to make domestic fuel prices more affordable, but denied market rumours that it will increase a soybean export tax.

Britain’s Privy Council has ruled that a vulture fund cannot collect 100 million dollars from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Newsnight revealed last year that old Congo debts had been illegally sold to FG Hemisphere for 3 million and the fund had then sued in Jersey where they were awarded 100 million.